MFF 2011
The memories...they fade so quickly. Maybe it's all that alcohol I drank.
I did go to MFF this year, and once again it made me happy.
The trip
This was the first time I flew on Virgin America. My god, people. If you can take Virgin where you need to go, do it. It's the best airline that the United States has to offer. Free rental of a Chromebook for use in-flight using Wifi, and an entertainment system in the seat in front of you with television, games, food/beverage ordering, and an in-flight chat system.
Since it was a furry party plane, we had around 7 in the in-chat system. There were so many gadgets to keep me busy on each flight, that I had too many choices. hell, I brought a book with me because I thought I'd have nothing else to do. On the way there, I actively became frustrated when the system froze up during crew announcements. That worried me. So, I put away all those gadgets and just tried to sleep as best I could. On the way back, I managed to crash the entertainment system by trying to play a game. Whatever you do, don't start GemDrop. Thankfully, the attendants reset my system and I spent the rest of my flight watching videos on the BoingBoing channel.
The hotel
This is the best hotel I have ever been to for a furry con. I love this architecture. I love the decorations. My dream house should be built the same way. I would love it. I've always had a fondness for it.
I got a double bed room with 2 other people. Balcony was nice, and the best part is when you open your door and see....the con. It's right there over the railing. I loved it.
The weather
I only brought two tiny fans with me, but the cold, dry weather is another reason why I love this con so much. It gives my fursuit a chance to dry after I pour all my sweat into it. It drizzled a tiny bit, and it never got super cold. And there was just enough of a breeze that going outside was brisk but not life-threatening.
The con
MFF is a super great con and it's got a ton of events and panels and stuff to do. I did very few of the activities they offered.
I heard lots of great things about everything. I never heard a complaint out of anyone about how poorly something went. Maybe I'm just wearing a rose-tinted hearing aid, so I'll have to listen harder, perhaps.
The dances
I had a great time at the dances, but the music didn't move me quite as much as certain other cons. The ballroom has this weird 'L' shape to it, which I guess works in a strange way. The long entry portion is mostly unused and it's a great place for the bird to flap his wings and make a fool of myself to the full extent.
I did make a special trip for Madius's set in the tern, and I greatly enjoyed it. His rhythms tested me, though. But the music evolved, and that's really important to me. I just can't get into continuous thumping with no evolution.
I have also seen a few videos of me dancing. Man, do I suck. :P No, really. I got bored of watching me dance, and I'm totally narcissistic when I'm in fursuit. Maybe I'm just getting too old to move as much as I did before.
The people
I start to sound like a recording at this point, I know. These cons do start to blend together but I really do mean it when I say that I love seeing my friends. I love remeeting old ones, and making new ones. MFF is a great place for that.
Thank you, con, for the con suite. What a way to get a load off my feet, especially since the hotel removed all their chairs from the lobbies. WTF? At least in the con suite, I could have a soda and a snack and chat with new people who I had never seen before.
I've been in this fandom long enough that I know a bunch of people. I come back from this con, and I find out I missed seeing so many more people I knew. I didn't even know they were there! That's nutz. I also remember how I talked to some of my friends for like all of 5 seconds before something else distracted me. And I feel awful about it. I wish I recognized that as it was happening so I could stop myself and re-engage in the conversation. But what's done is done. I'll have to try again another time.
The bar
Another good place for me to meet people was the Red Bar. I spent WAY too much money there on food and beer, mostly beer. But I got to hang out with more people who were doing the same thing.
I'm not sure about the bartenders. Everything seemed all right at the start, but by Sunday night, I could see them move around a LOT, but do very little. I'm sure they're just following some kind of system that they're used to, but I managed to get only one beer in the 'hour' that I stayed at the bar. Maybe they needed one more person serving drinks to handle that crowd. However, their system needs tweaking when there's a big crowd of ignorant furries wandering around the hotel. Lots of movement, walking around, assistants keeping glasses stocked and stations cleared. But the throughput for drink orders was confusingly very low.
The parties
I went to parties. Thank you, MFF, for allowing them to happen. You currently have the best facilities for parties. Please help keep that alive. Never ever let it die.
The stuff that happens at the parties, stays at the parties. Sorry, if you want more info of what I saw or did, well, some of it is in the Flickr album. Otherwise, you'll have to ask me in person.
I was up until 4am, 5am, 6am and there was some group somewhere that I could hang out with. If I didn't have a need for sleep, I wouldn't. There's always something going on somewhere.
The drinking
I managed to keep myself well-inebriated for the entire convention at the right times. Thanks to help from Palmer who picked up a good bottle of rum for me, and Blueneko and Kryphos for sharing beer, and all those parties for providing me with good liquor. I never got too drunk at any time, and I never had a hangover the next day.
The pictures
So yeah, my traditional Flickr gallery of pics. If you haven't seen it yet, go on over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tastyeagle/sets/72157628143531501/ and have a taste of what I saw. If you see yourself in there, feel free to re-post that photo of yourself somewhere else.
The end
I wish I did more. I wish I 'could' have done more. Some plans had to be ditched. Some other stuff were added on instead. All because of circumstances of the time.
As cons go, I always enjoy going to them, but the reports do end up sounding the same. I can't really go into any great detail because then it'll be completely TL;DR.
I did go to MFF this year, and once again it made me happy.
The trip
This was the first time I flew on Virgin America. My god, people. If you can take Virgin where you need to go, do it. It's the best airline that the United States has to offer. Free rental of a Chromebook for use in-flight using Wifi, and an entertainment system in the seat in front of you with television, games, food/beverage ordering, and an in-flight chat system.
Since it was a furry party plane, we had around 7 in the in-chat system. There were so many gadgets to keep me busy on each flight, that I had too many choices. hell, I brought a book with me because I thought I'd have nothing else to do. On the way there, I actively became frustrated when the system froze up during crew announcements. That worried me. So, I put away all those gadgets and just tried to sleep as best I could. On the way back, I managed to crash the entertainment system by trying to play a game. Whatever you do, don't start GemDrop. Thankfully, the attendants reset my system and I spent the rest of my flight watching videos on the BoingBoing channel.
The hotel
This is the best hotel I have ever been to for a furry con. I love this architecture. I love the decorations. My dream house should be built the same way. I would love it. I've always had a fondness for it.
I got a double bed room with 2 other people. Balcony was nice, and the best part is when you open your door and see....the con. It's right there over the railing. I loved it.
The weather
I only brought two tiny fans with me, but the cold, dry weather is another reason why I love this con so much. It gives my fursuit a chance to dry after I pour all my sweat into it. It drizzled a tiny bit, and it never got super cold. And there was just enough of a breeze that going outside was brisk but not life-threatening.
The con
MFF is a super great con and it's got a ton of events and panels and stuff to do. I did very few of the activities they offered.
I heard lots of great things about everything. I never heard a complaint out of anyone about how poorly something went. Maybe I'm just wearing a rose-tinted hearing aid, so I'll have to listen harder, perhaps.
The dances
I had a great time at the dances, but the music didn't move me quite as much as certain other cons. The ballroom has this weird 'L' shape to it, which I guess works in a strange way. The long entry portion is mostly unused and it's a great place for the bird to flap his wings and make a fool of myself to the full extent.
I did make a special trip for Madius's set in the tern, and I greatly enjoyed it. His rhythms tested me, though. But the music evolved, and that's really important to me. I just can't get into continuous thumping with no evolution.
I have also seen a few videos of me dancing. Man, do I suck. :P No, really. I got bored of watching me dance, and I'm totally narcissistic when I'm in fursuit. Maybe I'm just getting too old to move as much as I did before.
The people
I start to sound like a recording at this point, I know. These cons do start to blend together but I really do mean it when I say that I love seeing my friends. I love remeeting old ones, and making new ones. MFF is a great place for that.
Thank you, con, for the con suite. What a way to get a load off my feet, especially since the hotel removed all their chairs from the lobbies. WTF? At least in the con suite, I could have a soda and a snack and chat with new people who I had never seen before.
I've been in this fandom long enough that I know a bunch of people. I come back from this con, and I find out I missed seeing so many more people I knew. I didn't even know they were there! That's nutz. I also remember how I talked to some of my friends for like all of 5 seconds before something else distracted me. And I feel awful about it. I wish I recognized that as it was happening so I could stop myself and re-engage in the conversation. But what's done is done. I'll have to try again another time.
The bar
Another good place for me to meet people was the Red Bar. I spent WAY too much money there on food and beer, mostly beer. But I got to hang out with more people who were doing the same thing.
I'm not sure about the bartenders. Everything seemed all right at the start, but by Sunday night, I could see them move around a LOT, but do very little. I'm sure they're just following some kind of system that they're used to, but I managed to get only one beer in the 'hour' that I stayed at the bar. Maybe they needed one more person serving drinks to handle that crowd. However, their system needs tweaking when there's a big crowd of ignorant furries wandering around the hotel. Lots of movement, walking around, assistants keeping glasses stocked and stations cleared. But the throughput for drink orders was confusingly very low.
The parties
I went to parties. Thank you, MFF, for allowing them to happen. You currently have the best facilities for parties. Please help keep that alive. Never ever let it die.
The stuff that happens at the parties, stays at the parties. Sorry, if you want more info of what I saw or did, well, some of it is in the Flickr album. Otherwise, you'll have to ask me in person.
I was up until 4am, 5am, 6am and there was some group somewhere that I could hang out with. If I didn't have a need for sleep, I wouldn't. There's always something going on somewhere.
The drinking
I managed to keep myself well-inebriated for the entire convention at the right times. Thanks to help from Palmer who picked up a good bottle of rum for me, and Blueneko and Kryphos for sharing beer, and all those parties for providing me with good liquor. I never got too drunk at any time, and I never had a hangover the next day.
The pictures
So yeah, my traditional Flickr gallery of pics. If you haven't seen it yet, go on over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tastyeagle/sets/72157628143531501/ and have a taste of what I saw. If you see yourself in there, feel free to re-post that photo of yourself somewhere else.
The end
I wish I did more. I wish I 'could' have done more. Some plans had to be ditched. Some other stuff were added on instead. All because of circumstances of the time.
As cons go, I always enjoy going to them, but the reports do end up sounding the same. I can't really go into any great detail because then it'll be completely TL;DR.